New National Centres of Competence in Research: cutting-edge research on strategic topics

The Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) announced the new NCCRs on 30 January 2026. Through the NCCRs, the Swiss Confederation supports collaborative networks that conduct top-quality basic research over the long term. The NCCR programme places particular emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches in new areas of research, but also on innovative and socially relevant issues within established fields of knowledge.

The six new research topics will start in the first half of 2026. They sustainably strengthen research and innovation in strategically important areas such as personalised medicine, quantum technologies, the fight against climate change, and particle research. The EAER press release and accompanying factsheets provide more detailed information on the new NCCRs.

In order to strengthen scientific diversity in the NCCR programme, the federal government intends to launch a supplementary NCCR selection process in the near future. The SNSF will provide information as soon as the framework conditions for this supplementary NCCR call have been finalised.